WPA Poster for Federal Theatre Project presentation of "RUR" at the Marionette Theatre, showing abstract image with text. R.U.R. is a 1920 science fiction play in the Czech language by Karel ?apek. R.U.R. stands for Rosumovi Univerzální Roboti (Rossum’s Universal Robots). It premiered on 25 January 1921 and introduced the word "robot" to the English language and to science fiction as a whole. In the depression of the 1930's a federal stimulus stimulus program was created, the WPA. The Works Projects Administration (WPA) funded theaters, art and inspired lots of classic reminders of a wounded USA struggling colorfully to come out of the Depression.